Canadian Aviation Electronics joins effort to train air traffic controllers amid countrywide shortage
An airplane engulfed in flames scorches across the farmland horizon, trailing smoke as it plummets toward an airport runway — leaving those inside the control tower with seconds to react. “There’s a mayday situation,” barks air traffic instructor Karina Vasylenko, compelling a second aircraft to pull up. A code-laced back-and-forth between tower and ground control follows. Emergency vehicles race onto the taxiway and the space becomes clear for landing. “Runway two-seven is yours for the emergency,” confirms a fellow instructor. The simulation, which played out Tuesday on a bank of screens the size of bus ads, is one of many scenarios to be thrown at the first crop of students at CAE Inc.’s new air traffic training centre in Montreal. Amid a severe labour shortage, the company has joined the effort to churn out more air traffic controllers, expanding its wheelhouse beyond pilots and maintenance technicians to include trainees bound for control towers. The goal is to sharply increase the number of graduates and take on 478 air traffic students by 2028, drawing on courseware from Nav Canada, the non-profit body that runs the country’s civil air navigation as well as seven schools across the country. CAE, the world’s largest maker of flight simulators, signed an agreement with Nav Canada last April to help train controllers and flight service specialists. Air traffic controllers shepherd pilots to and from airports, instructing them to climb, descend or taxi in quick succession. From towers and windowless “area control centres,” they monitor 18m square kilometres of airspace through a complex array of maps, radar and weather data. “Sometimes, you’re playing the role of a traffic cop on a freeway,” said CAE flight centre head Stella Hughes. A shortage of these sky cops, however, has serious implications for employee stress and passenger safety. Meanwhile, an aging workforce, rising flight activity and a timeline that can top two years to train new recruits make the problem even trickier.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2025-01-17/general/canadian-aviation-electronics-joins-effort-to-train-air-traffic-controllers-amid-countrywide-shortage
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Canadian Aviation Electronics joins effort to train air traffic controllers amid countrywide shortage
An airplane engulfed in flames scorches across the farmland horizon, trailing smoke as it plummets toward an airport runway — leaving those inside the control tower with seconds to react. “There’s a mayday situation,” barks air traffic instructor Karina Vasylenko, compelling a second aircraft to pull up. A code-laced back-and-forth between tower and ground control follows. Emergency vehicles race onto the taxiway and the space becomes clear for landing. “Runway two-seven is yours for the emergency,” confirms a fellow instructor. The simulation, which played out Tuesday on a bank of screens the size of bus ads, is one of many scenarios to be thrown at the first crop of students at CAE Inc.’s new air traffic training centre in Montreal. Amid a severe labour shortage, the company has joined the effort to churn out more air traffic controllers, expanding its wheelhouse beyond pilots and maintenance technicians to include trainees bound for control towers. The goal is to sharply increase the number of graduates and take on 478 air traffic students by 2028, drawing on courseware from Nav Canada, the non-profit body that runs the country’s civil air navigation as well as seven schools across the country. CAE, the world’s largest maker of flight simulators, signed an agreement with Nav Canada last April to help train controllers and flight service specialists. Air traffic controllers shepherd pilots to and from airports, instructing them to climb, descend or taxi in quick succession. From towers and windowless “area control centres,” they monitor 18m square kilometres of airspace through a complex array of maps, radar and weather data. “Sometimes, you’re playing the role of a traffic cop on a freeway,” said CAE flight centre head Stella Hughes. A shortage of these sky cops, however, has serious implications for employee stress and passenger safety. Meanwhile, an aging workforce, rising flight activity and a timeline that can top two years to train new recruits make the problem even trickier.<br/>
